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Auditor General releases FY24 district spending analysis showing instructional share at 20‑year low
Summary
The Auditor General presented an interactive FY24 school district spending report showing that statewide instructional spending as a share of operations fell to 52.6%, the lowest since monitoring began in 2001, even as total operational spending reached a high point.
The Office of the Auditor General presented its fiscal year 2024 school district spending analysis to the House Education Committee, showing that statewide operational spending rose while the share devoted to direct instruction declined.
Lindsay Perry, Auditor General, and Carl Calderon, manager of the school audits division, walked the committee through an interactive report the office publishes online. The report found that the statewide instructional spending percentage for fiscal year 2024 was 52.6 percent, a 0.8 percentage-point drop from the prior year. The office noted that instructional dollars did increase in absolute terms from FY23 to FY24, but a smaller proportion of the year‑over‑year increase went to instruction — about 39 cents of every additional dollar of operational spending.
The presentation highlighted several statewide figures: school districts have spent approximately $3.5 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funds since 2020; total operational spending in FY24 was the highest since monitoring began; statewide operational spending per student was $12,371 in FY24, an increase of $668 from the prior year, and about $585 per student of FY24 spending was funded by COVID-19 relief dollars. The report also found a net statewide enrollment decline from FY20 to FY24 of about 44,728 students (roughly 5% of enrollment), with much of the enrollment growth concentrated in suburban Maricopa County districts.
Calderon said 20 percent of districts saw a decline in their instructional spending percentage from FY23 to FY24 and that districts that reduced their instructional share tended to allocate a smaller proportion of operations to teacher salaries and benefits. The report noted the long-term trend: instructional spending as a share of operations has declined in 14 of the last 20 years and is at its lowest level since the office began tracking in 2001.
On teacher pay, the report showed the statewide average teacher salary rose to $65,113 in FY24 (average base salary $59,435). The auditor general’s office also reported variations among districts, with 77 districts showing decreases in average teacher salary in FY24. The presentation cautioned that FY25 will be the final year that COVID-19 federal relief funds are available and that districts relying heavily on those funds need plans to sustain pay and programs.
The office added that its separate performance audits have identified nearly $8 million in potential savings (about $4.1 million of that recurring) across districts in recent years and recommended efficiency reviews for local districts. Committee members discussed how the report can inform governing boards and district responses to enrollment declines, staffing changes and shifts in expenditures.
Auditor General Perry said the office will provide district-level briefings on request and noted limitations on the office’s authority to analyze charter schools in the same way, citing differences in accounting standards and statutory authority.
The committee did not vote on the report; members asked follow-up questions about potential deeper dives into special education contracting, class-size metrics and charter-school comparability.
